There were no "bad guys" in the deal; no one deliberately set out to ruin me. But within the legal parameters of the contract,
there was ample opportunity to do so. The buyer acted within his rights; meanwhile, my hands were tied. If a case could be made against them, it was
that they agreed to help me with property taxes and never did. But they never signed any written agreement to do so, and consequently I had no legal
leverage over them. Meanwhile, much to their credit, they agreed to help me survive by extending cash advances—although one might argue that
the advances were already owed since they never made a proper down payment on the property. It took three very long, grueling years to resolve.

But it's all done. We've settled all accounts and gone our separate ways. And now I must face a cruel reality:
I got legally screwed, I have no legal recourse to recoup my losses, and I'm left having to get down on bended knee (my good one) and
ask total strangers for help. My plan all along has been to re-launch a
business I ran years ago to provide retirement income. In order to do this, however, I need a permanent roof over my head.

If people don't think I deserve the opportunity to surmount unforeseen and unfair obstacles, to realize my dream and to continue
my life, then so be it. I'd like to think otherwise, but I'll let the "people's court" decide. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

Note: I'm constantly looking for more economical ways of doing things, so I've been adjusting the amount of my goal downward in response—I'm not looking
for anything more than I actually need. Most of the materials I'm using now for the current progress were purchased months ago, so I'm kind of
"coasting" at the moment. The problem is that there are still several big-ticket items for which I do not have the capital right now, including
well hookup, sheetrock, appliances, and the deck. (Obviously I can live without
the deck, but the rest is necessary for a CO.)

Also: I'm not on Facebook (and never will be), so if you are, please share. Thank you!